Gayle King calls out United Airlines for giving her 'window seat without a window' on long flight

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Gayle King didn’t hide her frustration after discovering that the “window seat” she booked on a long-haul United Airlines flight didn’t actually come with a window. The CBS News anchor shared the experience in a candid social media post that quickly caught attention before being deleted.

The 71-year-old journalist walked followers through the ordeal in an Instagram video originally posted on January 4, documenting what she described as a baffling seating situation during what appeared to be a nearly nine-hour flight.

Gayle King documents awkward surprise mid-flight

In the video, King showed her boarding pass, which clearly listed her business-class seat as a “window” seat. She explained that she always prefers sitting by the window, especially on long flights, and settled in expecting the familiar view once the plane was airborne.

“I always like the window seat,” King said in the clip. “So I sit down and I go, ‘Oh great, let’s look out the window,’” she added, before panning the camera to reveal a solid wall where the window should have been.

Visibly amused but clearly annoyed, King joked about the setup as she surveyed her surroundings. “There is no window. Well, maybe I can look at the neighbor’s window across the hall,” she said, turning the camera before tapping the wall beside her. “Oh, a wall.”

“What’s a girl to do?” King continued. She noted that she spoke with a flight attendant, who she said was polite and sympathetic but unable to fix the issue because the flight was completely full. “It’s going to be a long ride,” she remarked.

Text overlaid on the video read, “A window seat… without a window?!”

United Airlines tagged as Gayle King calls it out publicly

In the caption of the now-deleted post, King directly tagged the airline while questioning the logic behind the seating designation. “When is a window seat not a window seat? C’mon @united!” she wrote.

She later added context, saying the flight attendant agreed the seat should not have been labeled as a window seat. “He said he had never seen anything like this,” King explained, adding that while nothing could be done mid-flight, she was encouraged to file a complaint afterward. “This is me complaining…” she wrote.

PEOPLE reached out to United Airlines for comment following the post, but the airline did not immediately respond.

Complaint echoes broader controversy for United Airlines

King’s experience comes amid ongoing scrutiny of United Airlines over how it labels certain seats. In August 2025, the airline was hit with a lawsuit from passengers who claimed they were unfairly charged extra for so-called window seats that did not actually offer a window view.

A few months later, in November, United filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the term “window seat” refers to the location of the seat rather than a guarantee of a view outside the aircraft.

“The use of the word ‘window’ in reference to a particular seat cannot reasonably be interpreted as a promise that the seat will have an exterior window view,” United’s attorneys argued in court filings previously obtained by PEOPLE. “Rather, the word ‘window’ identifies the position of the seat, i.e., next to the wall of the main body of the aircraft.”

Gayle King was returning from Hawaii trip with Oprah Winfrey

At the time she shared the video, King appeared to be traveling back to New York City after spending the holidays and celebrating her 71st birthday in Hawaii. She marked the occasion alongside longtime friend Oprah Winfrey, who owns property in Maui.

On January 5, King posted what she called her “cliff notes version of Christmas 2025,” sharing moments from the trip. The Instagram carousel included a clip of King blowing out candles on a yellow birthday cake as Winfrey smiled beside her, as well as photos from a group hike surrounded by lush greenery.

In another image, King and Winfrey posed together outdoors, both smiling. “Another birthday bathed in yellow! Hiking and ringing in the new year in paradise,” King wrote. She added that the vacation was especially meaningful because it came without a strict schedule and was spent with people she cares about most.

“Back to reality and 2026!” she concluded. “My word for the year is CLARITY… what’s yours?”